Diagnosis · Gel too soft — water hardness unknown
Measure before you change the formula
Water hardness is the single most common hidden variable in gellan failures, and it changes between sites and seasons. Two beakers will answer the question faster than any amount of reformulating.
What to do
- Test the water: total hardness as calcium carbonate. Above roughly 50 mg/L there is usually already enough calcium for a beverage system.
- Run one beaker in the current water, and one in deionised water dosed with 0.03% calcium chloride. Hydrate, cool, compare.
- If the deionised sample sets and the other does not, the missing ion is your problem. If neither sets, come back and take another branch.
The reading behind this
How this conclusion was reached
What is actually going wrong?
The gel is too soft, or will not set at all
Does the formula contain free calcium or magnesium — milk, mineral water, an added calcium salt, or hard tap water?
I do not know
Check this against your own system
This describes the usual cause. What actually fixes it depends on your water hardness, total solids and fill temperature — send those three numbers and we will come back with a starting point, or with a bench sample of the grade this points to.
Ask about this diagnosisOther conclusions
Everything else the tree can land on
- Gel too soft — no calcium present
- Gel too soft — high acyl grade
- Gel too soft — low pH hydrolysis
- Gel too soft — remaining causes
- Lumps — powder not dry blended
- Lumps — hydration window missed
- Lumps — process details to check
- Pre-gelation — in the line
- Pre-gelation — free calcium
- Pre-gelation — cold tank
- Syneresis — water weeping
- Gel cloudy or dull
- Gel melts when warm
- Particles settle
- Slimy mouthfeel or off flavour
Other tools
Keep going
Three more decision aids for the same problem set.